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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26268445">Before you lay your judgment (please hear our story through)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stereden/pseuds/stereden'>stereden</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stereden's One Piece AU's [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Akainu should be his own warning, And a Hug, Angst, Boke no Buggy and the no good terrible very bad day, Buggy needs a break, Canon-Typical Violence, Competent Buggy (One Piece), Feels, Gen, Impel Down, Marineford AU, Portgas D. Ace Lives, Sporadic Updates, and decided to put two of Roger's legacies on the execution plateform?, i blame the discord server - you know what you did, sins of the father should not be taken out on the children, the Marines are terrible people, though honestly you all should be used to it by now since this is me we're talking about here, what if Akainu recognised Buggy when he brought Ace into Impel Down</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:14:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26268445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stereden/pseuds/stereden</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Cowards,” he manages to croak out through his much abused throat, the words impossibly loud in his ears in the sudden silence of the corridor, far away from the vacarm of the level one cells.</p>
<p>The heat behind him rises suddenly.</p>
<p>“What was that, scum?” Akainu growls.</p>
<p>“I said,” Buggy repeats just as they reach another hallway of cells, his eyes landing on a redheaded man in the first one, locking gazes with him for a fraction of a second before fixing his sight on the massive tatoo on Firefist’s back instead. “That the marines are yellow-bellied cowards who would rather go after someone who has never so much as met Gol D Roger than grow a pair and challenge any of the Roger Kaizoku who actually went to the end of the world with him! Cowards who slaughtered hundreds for mere rumours of a possible child and chased after two fourteen years old kids rather than even attempt to track down Silver Rayleigh, Scopper Gaban and the others! I name you all cowards in the eyes of Davy Jones, and may he drag your souls down to the very bottom of the ocean!”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks &amp; Buggy, Buggy &amp; Portgas D. Ace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stereden's One Piece AU's [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708903</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>879</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. With the crack of the lash swift and true</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/RancidMango/gifts">RancidMango</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>I hope you and your loved ones are as well as can be given the current situation &lt;3</p>
<p>Here's another of my WIP to distract you from what's going on - I blame the discord group for this one. You all know what you did, you wonderful band of enablers. RancidMango, I'm pretty sure you were the one who sparked this particular plot bunny : I hope you'll enjoy the results :P</p>
<p>Chapter warnings: FEELS (it's me, so that's a given by now), ANGST (see previous comment), canon-typical violence, Akaiun being a dick, mention of Baterilla</p>
<p>As mentioned above, this is a WIP that isn't very active. This means that updates will be sporadic and depend on when my muse decides to cooperate - my main focus is and will remain We Still Stand Proud (I am working on the next chapter, I promise, it's just fighting me every stop of the way, hence why you get this fic instead xD).</p>
<p>Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this fic!</p>
<p>Fic title from the song "Mutiny" by the Jolly Rogers; Chapter title is from "The last Watch", also by the Jolly Rogers</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In one life, Buggy wouldn’t have met Portgas D. Ace and realized he was his captain’s son until the battle of Marineford, until it was too late. Buggy would have remained a level one prisoner until Monkey D. Luffy’s arrival, and would have escaped along him, and ended up in Marineford anyway, but he wouldn’t have been able to interfere in any way that actually mattered, except for helping save Monkey D. Luffy at the very end.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In another, Buggy would have met Portgas D. Ace before he leaves East Blue, and before he eats the Mera Mera no Mi but after the creation of the Spades.  Buggy would have challenged the rookies, like he does with every other rookie crew who crosses his way, to make sure they realise what they’re getting into, and Buggy would have gotten his ass kicked and written Portgas D Ace down as a future monster. Buggy would have let him go, and he wouldn’t have realised that this was Gol D Roger’s son until Marineford. He would still have escaped with Monkey D. Luffy, and ended up in Marineford, and this time he would have been able to step in, to save two boys who had the sins of their fathers put on their shoulders. He wouldn’t have been too late this time, but it would definitely have been a close thing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In this life, though, Buggy <em>does</em> meet Portgas D. Ace before he leaves East Blue, after he eats the Mera Mera no Mi and after the creation of the Spades. He still challenges him, still gets his ass kicked, still writes him off as a future monster and then stops thinking about him, not expecting to ever cross paths with him again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Until, he does, that is.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>It starts with a commotion. It’s not the first one, not by far, because this is Impel Down and fights are a dime a dozen here, so Buggy doesn’t pay it too much attention, at least not at first. He’s in one of the less crowded cells, and had somehow been lucky enough to get pretty tame cellmates - mostly kids who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, who had had no idea what they were getting into when they decided to sail under the black flag.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(None of them are from East Blue, and Buggy takes a smidge of comfort from that. Maybe it has nothing to do with him, but he likes to think that what he’s doing there is helping, at least in some ways.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So. It starts with a commotion, except this one isn’t coming from one of the other cells, but from the corridor itself. That usually foretells the arrival of a new inmate, and Buggy comes slightly closer to the bars. New inmates usually means at least </span>
  <em>
    <span>some</span>
  </em>
  <span> smidget of information from the outside world, and Buggy is starting to get desperate for anything about his crew. One of the only downsides of having established himself as a small-time nobody: there’s little to no rumours about what might have happened to his people since he got locked up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He really hopes they’re okay. Mohji should have led them straight to one of their hideouts, and tried to contact Shanks as soon as it was safe to do so. He only hopes Alvida hasn’t tried to take over. Not that he thinks his crew would actually go for it - if there’s one thing he learned about them, it’s that they’re fantastically loyal to him in a way he's not sure he deserves - but if she tried to order them around and brought more attention upon them…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He clenches his fists. He really needs to get out of here, the sooner the better. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>(He doesn’t know how much longer he can take this. His Observation Haki is working overtime, he’s twitching at the slightest movement from his cellmates, he hasn’t slept more than a couple minutes at a time since Garp dragged him here, and the guards latest ‘playtime’ had left him bloody, battered and bruised. He’s still trying to heal the bones of his right hand, and he just hopes he managed to set everything properly, or rebreaking them is going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> painful.)</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>The new arrival is definitely a fighter, Buggy knows that even before they come into sight. They make as much noise as that one group three cells down does when they get going, the one that holds low level grunts with more aggression than brain cells, and by the time the guards drag him into their hallway, Buggy can see why.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He only vaguely remembers Firefist. It’s been what, three years or thereabout since he tested the guy? It had been a good fight, Buggy remembers that much, and he had seen a couple of his bounty posters since, though he had basically stopped paying attention after the kid got his devil fruit and then joined Newgate’s crew. Had made it to Second Commander, even, if Buggy is remembering the latest batch of bounties he saw properly. No wonder he’s got a fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>escort</span>
  </em>
  <span>, if they managed to capture him! Newgate has to be <em>pissed.</em> </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait. Is that a fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>admiral?!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Buggy inches closer to the bars. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fuck. That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>Akainu</span>
  </em>
  <span>. They must really be worried about the kid escaping, if they sent him along - him, and what has to be around thirty marines, some of whom are wearing Vice-Admiral insignias, and two half-giants each holding the brat by one arm. The kid’s got some heavy duty seastone shackles keeping his wrists bound behind him, and what looks like the same to his feet - overkill much? Seriously, Buggy’s had to deal with seastone before and even a tiny amount of it is </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Then again, the restraints are clearly not stopping Firefist from fighting back, using his core muscles to lift his legs to try and clobber the marines holding him. Buggy has to admit it, he’s impressed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Around them, the other cells have quieted down, prisoners pressing against the bars to see what’s happening. Buggy’s cellmates are doing the same, and Buggy twitches as he finds himself blocked in, unable to retreat back inside the cell. He feels exposed, and with an admiral here that’s the </span>
  <em>
    <span>last</span>
  </em>
  <span> thing he wants to be.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Firefist has one hell of a mouth to him too, he notes absently as the boy curses his jailers out. Quite a wide vocabulary, too, there's some words in there that Buggy didn't know before, and he's definitely going to remember them. Knowing his luck, he'll definitely need them at some point to curse out the situation he will undoubtly land himself in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy's loudness won’t last, no one remains </span>
  <em>
    <span>loud</span>
  </em>
  <span> in Impel Down for very long, but it’s impressive nonetheless. Then again, the kid’s a D, isn’t he? He’ll probably last longer than most, not that Buggy will know since he’s probably going to be locked up a lot further down. No way they’re leaving Newgate’s Second Commander in Level One with the small fry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of his cellmates pushes up behind him and Buggy’s head hits the bar, and he swears as he instinctively elbows the offender in the gut, his other hand going to his face, but he freezes when his eyes meet with the admiral’s.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Fuck. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fuck fuck fuck this is bad, so very very bad-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akainu is looking </span>
  <em>
    <span>straight at him</span>
  </em>
  <span>, is </span>
  <em>
    <span>walking straight towards his cell</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Buggy tries to scamper backwards, but all of his cellmates are freaking out and he’s not quick enough to make it out of range before the admiral grabs him by the throat and drags him back, crushing him against the bars. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Buggy is </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrified</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He wants nothing more than to scatter, to escape Akainu’s grip, but the black tint of the man’s fingers and the heat building up in front of his face stops him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why is this man not in seastone cuffs?” Akainu barks, and fuck, that means he’s recognised him, that means the admiral knows who Buggy is and-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Er… He’s not indicated as having a devil fruit in our files, Admiral!” A flustered warden, the one with the ridiculous headdress and the pike, says, and then covers under Akainu’s glare.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you have </span>
  <em>
    <span>any idea</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Akainu bites out, and there’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>steam</span>
  </em>
  <span> coming out of his mouth. “Who this man is?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The warden looks through his files again. “Er… Boke no Buggy, low-level East Blue pirate, bounty of 15.000.000…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Moron!” One of the smarter marines approaches with seastone cuffs, and Buggy tries to struggle, he really does, but when there’s a hand slowly turning into magma crushing his windpipe, there’s a limit to what he can do. “This piece of scum sailed with Gol D Roger himself! He has no business being in Level One!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of the shackles slams shut around Buggy’s right wrist, and his knees buckle. The only thing currently holding him up is Akainu’s hand, which is quickly reaching boiling temperatures.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fuck. FUCK.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Between the two half giants, Firefist has suddendly stopped fighting and is staring at Buggy in disbelief, like he can’t believe what he’s hearing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Given that the last time the kid saw him Buggy had been playing the part of the dumb clown in order to get the kid to fight him so he could get a chance to test him, Buggy can’t even bring himself to be all that offended. He’s usually quite happy to let people believe that his facade is all there is to him, that’s what’s prevented them from realising that he had sailed on the Oro Jackson. After all, a weakling such as him would never have survived such a thing, how could he?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re taking him down with the other one,” Akainu orders, glaring at Buggy’s soon to be former cellmates until they’re covering at the other end of the cell, then motions for one of the other guards to open the bars.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Buggy can’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>try</span>
  </em>
  <span> to get himself free before he’s dragged through the opening and into the corridor. The magma user is still holding him up by the neck, Buggy’s feet not even touching the ground, and he doesn’t let go of him until the other shackle closes around his left wrist. Then the bastard drops him unceremoniously to the ground, Buggy falling hard on his back, and presses a boiling hot foot down on his ribcage before Buggy can even attempt to get to his feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cuff his feet too!” He barks, and Buggy has to try </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> hard to hide his panic. One pair of seastone cuffs is bad enough. A second one, in his current state? That’s… very much not good. Not good at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t try to fight, though. Not with Akainu’s foot crushing his torso and leaving what’s going to be one hell of a third degree burn on the skin beneath the smoldering prison shirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the second pair of shackles close around his ankles, it takes all he has to repress a whimper.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Seastone robbing him of his devil fruit powers...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Burns on his throat and chest....</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sheer panic that comes with being at the mercy of someone so much stronger than him…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At least no one has tried to drown him or cut him open to see what he can survive, Buggy thinks semi-hysterically even as he tries his hardest not to let anything show on his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At least not yet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <strike>
    <span>Nope, not thinking about that, not tempting fate </span>
    <em>
      <span>at all</span>
    </em>
    <span>-</span>
  </strike>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Akainu’s foot retreats from his chest - and takes at least </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>bits of his skin with it, the pain excruciating but nothing Buggy can’t hide until he can afford to break down - and Buggy’s arms are grabbed by two Marines who drag him up with no concern for his well being or the pain he’s currently in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Assholes.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Move your ass!” The one to his left grunts, pushing him down an empty corridor without cells. A warden shortcut, Buggy thinks, and does his best to try and memorize the way. “Or we’ll drag you down feet-first!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Keep him alive for the execution,” Akainu grunts from behind Buggy, and Buggy </span>
  <em>
    <span>hates</span>
  </em>
  <span> that he cannot keep the bastard in his field of vision. Having </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> kind of enemy at his back, while he’s in no position to fight back, is… “I need to confer with the Gensui, but if we play our cards right we can execute two of Roger’s legacies at the same time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Two?</span>
  </em>
  <span> What does he mean, </span>
  <em>
    <span>two?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Buggy panics. Did… did they get their hands on </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shanks?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <strike>
    <span>Not Shanks, please please please Davy Jones hear him, don't let them have caught Shanks-</span>
  </strike>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No, they can’t have, the prison would be abuzz with rumours if the Marines had managed to capture one of the Emperors, and Shanks and his crazies are much too strong for those assholes, they can’t have-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing</span>
  </em>
  <span> to do with that man!” Firefist </span>
  <em>
    <span>hisses</span>
  </em>
  <span> from right in front of Buggy, still held down by the half-giants and still trashing around to try and free himself. “How many times do I have to tell your assholes? The only father I have is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Whitebeard!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Buggy…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stops. Not moving, obviously, not when there’s a marine on each side of him ready to use their weapons on him if he stops complying, but.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His brain stops. Goes blank. Cannot compute the information he just received, the conclusion he just reached.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Firefist’s back is to him, and Buggy can’t see his face, but… Buggy remembers the brat he fought three years ago. Remember seeing the curls and freckles and thinking </span>
  <em>
    <span>familiar</span>
  </em>
  <span> and hearing the name and deciding not to get involved in anything that might potentially involve Blackjack D Rouge and her band of crazies. Remembers dismissing the familiarity of the boy’s smile as just another reminder of the Queen of Spades, but…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That smile hadn’t been Rouge’s. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>Captain’s.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seas, that was… this kid was…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Alive,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Buggy thinks. The kid is </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive,</span>
  </em>
  <span> survived the Baterilla purges </span>
  <em>
    <span>somehow,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Buggy hadn’t known, hadn’t recognised him at all, but this is his captain’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>son</span>
  </em>
  <span> and he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive! </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sheer <em>relief</em> that courses through Buggy at that moment is enough to shake off his earlier panic and allow him to think clearly again.</span>
</p>
<p><em><span>Captain had a kid and the kid is <span class="u">alive.</span></span></em> <span>Despite the world's best efforts, despite <em>Baterilla,</em> the kid made it out <em>alive.</em></span></p>
<p>
  <span>Alive, but captured by the Marines. Alive, but scheduled for execution. Not for his actions as the captain of the Spade pirates, nor for his position as Newgate’s Second Commander, but because of the blood in his veins, because of a man he’s never met, who died long before he was born, a man he seems to </span>
  <em>
    <span>loath</span>
  </em>
  <span> if the hatred in his voice just now is anything to go by, and…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Buggy clenches his teeth.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“Cowards,” he manages to croak out through his much abused throat, the words impossibly loud in his ears in the sudden silence of the corridor, far away from the vacarm of the level one cells.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The heat behind him rises suddenly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What was </span>
  <em>
    <span>that,</span>
  </em>
  <span> scum?” Akainu growls.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I said,” Buggy repeats just as they reach another hallway of cells, his eyes landing on a redheaded man in the first one, locking gazes with him for a fraction of a second before fixing his sight on the massive tatoo on Firefist’s back instead. “That the marines are yellow-bellied </span>
  <em>
    <span>cowards</span>
  </em>
  <span> who would rather go after someone who has never so much as </span>
  <em>
    <span>met</span>
  </em>
  <span> Gol D Roger than grow a pair and challenge any of the Roger Kaizoku who actually went to the end of the world with him! Cowards who slaughtered </span>
  <em>
    <span>hundreds</span>
  </em>
  <span> for mere <em>rumours</em> of a possible child and chased after two </span>
  <em>
    <span>fourteen years old kids</span>
  </em>
  <span> rather than even </span>
  <em>
    <span>attempt</span>
  </em>
  <span> to track down Silver Rayleigh, Scopper Gaban and the others! I name you all </span>
  <em>
    <span>cowards</span>
  </em>
  <span> in the eyes of Davy Jones, and may he drag your souls down to the very bottom of the ocean!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The punch in the face is expected, and Buggy welcomes the darkness that comes with it.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Young Man sat with the Last Pirate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He's surprisingly alert when he does so, though Buggy thinks that might be more bluster than actual alertness: Portgas is wearing just as much seastone as he is, and from how long it took him to wake up, whoever knocked him out didn't hold back at all .</p><p>"Back amongst the conscious world, Portgas?" He calls out to the boy, careful to keep his voice at a tolerable level. "Any nausea or headache? Dizziness? Blurred vision? No point in checking for fatigue with those fucking shackles, but that looked like a nasty hit and no one needs a concussion on top of the bullshit heap we're already facing."</p><p>"I don't get conc-"</p><p>"You're wearing seastone shackles, your logia won't be able to do anything to heal you until they're taken off and I wouldn't bet on that being soon. Concussions suck, and being concussed and a prisonner is even worse, trust me on that."</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone!</p><p>I hope you and your loved ones are as well as can be given the current situation, which unfortunately is not getting better &lt;3</p><p>It's the middle of nanowrimo and I'm supposed to be working on my original novel, but the muse is fickle and the Discord Enablers in fine form: they all get enabling bouquets, and may want to duck to avoid the angst bat coming for them: I hope you'll enjoy the results :P</p><p>Chapter warnings: FEELS (it's me, so that's a given by now), ANGST (see previous comment), Buggy's non-existent self-esteem and way too strong self-depreciating tendencies, canon-typical violence, a surprise guest!</p><p>Basically? Bring your own tissues time again xD</p><p>Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!</p><p>Fic title from the song "Mutiny" by the Jolly Rogers; Chapter title is from "The Warning", also by the Jolly Rogers</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Buggy regains consciousness just in time to be roughly thrown into a cell, hitting the wall head first. By the time the spots in his eyes are gone, the marines have none too gently chained him to the wall by both wrists. The chains are long enough for him to move around a bit, though they’re attached to a mechanism in the wall that, if he’s correct, will allow the marines to control the length at any time. Damn it - he’s got some hairpins hidden away, but that’s not going to be enough, not with the seastone already weakening him and being locked into fucking level </span>
  <em>
    <span>six</span>
  </em>
  <span> of Impel Down! They hadn’t taken the ankles restraints away either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His ears are still ringing, but he somehow manages to catch a few pieces of the conversation between the magma bastard and the poison asshole as the two halfgiants manhandle Firefist inside the cell as well. One of them must have given up and given the kid a hard knock on the head, because Firefist is just hanging between the two of them, head low and eyes closed, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> but the kid is </span>
  <em>
    <span>young.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>(Too young, actually, to be Captain’s kid, but now that Buggy can get a good look at him the ressemblance is undeniable, a perfect mix between Rouge and Roger and fuck, but how the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> had Rouge pulled that off?)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he’s over twenty-one, Buggy will eat his hat - once he gets it back, that is, and he’s trying very hard not to think about the fact that he might never get it back again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was one of captain’s hats, one of his older ones that he wore only rarely, and Buggy had snuck into his cabin on his last night on the Oro Jackson, shortly after Captain’s execution, had grabbed a hat and a coat and a couple of sashes and most of Captain’s knives.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Most of that is still on the Big Top, but he had three knives, a sash and the hat on when Monkey Fucking D. Garp captured him, and he wants them </span>
  <em>
    <span>back.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And not just because he feels naked without a knife, especially in Impel Down, but also because it’s all he has left of his Captain after the moron went and committed suicide by marines rather than die in his bed surrounded by his beloved crew, and yes, Buggy is still bitter about that, what gave him away?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the moron went and had a </span>
  <em>
    <span>kid</span>
  </em>
  <span> with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Blackjack D Fucking Rouge</span>
  </em>
  <span> of all people, and how the hell had </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> happened? Seriously, </span>
  <em>
    <span>how?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Buggy had been of the impression that the Queen of Spade actually had </span>
  <em>
    <span>standards</span>
  </em>
  <span> for Davy Jones' sake!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy is distracting himself. He's distracting himself and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows it,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but it's better than the alternative.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>(The alternative is having a fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>panic attack</span>
  </em>
  <span> right there right now and that's just not an option. His hysterical breakdown can damn well wait until Shanks gets him out of here.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows</span>
  </em>
  <span> Shanks is coming for him. Has known it since he felt Rockstar's Haki when Akainu dragged him out of his cell, has known since he locked gaze with the redhead that Shanks' spymaster had been there to get him out of Impel Down and would get word to Shanks about what happened as soon as he could.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(But would it be fast enough? Akainu had mentioned an execution, but no date, and what if Shanks is too far away? What if-)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Buggy buries that thought at the very back of his mind. No. He won't think like that. Shanks will either break him out of prison or save him from the scaffold and while Buggy would much prefer the former he certainly won't scoff at the later.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Shanks will </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> come for him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Always. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The sky is mostly blue and the sea is mostly salty and D's are fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>bullshit</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Shanks will never abandon him, that's just how it is.)</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Buggy takes a deep breath, then another, and another again, trying to chase away the dark spots starting to dance in front of his eyes as he tries to repress the shaking of his limbs before anyone can notice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A familiar voice rises from his memories, always gruff and rough but still deeply fond nonetheless.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Breathe in for 4 seconds.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He inhales, shakily. One, two, three, four, tapping his fingers together to keep count.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Now, hold it for 7 seconds.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Breathe out for 8 seconds.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He exhales. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Great. Now, do it all over again</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does, focuses on </span>
  <em>
    <span>breathing</span>
  </em>
  <span>, until he feels like he’s getting oxygen again, until the black spots that had been dancing in front of his eyes disappear.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Good. Now, five things that you can see.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>His own legs, in the striped prison uniform. The stone of the cell's floor. The bars. The dim light from the corridor. The kid out cold on the other side of the cell.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You’re doing well. Four things that you can touch, now. C’mon Blue, you know how this works, we’ve done this before.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The cold of the floor seeping into his bones. The seastone cuffs around his wrists and ankles, draining his energy. The coarse fabric of his uniform. The steel of the chains holding him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nearly half-way there! Three more senses to go - what can you hear?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The sound of jeers and screams in the distance. His own heartbeat, impossibly loud. The faint breathing of the kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Smell, now.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Scorched skin smelling like roasted pig [no don't think about the burning and drowning, don't-]. Sweat and filth, coating him ever since he entered the prison.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just one thing left. C’mon Blue, you’re nearly done!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Iron aftertaste of the blood in his mouth from where the marines had hit him in the face, the taste lingering from the split lip he's sporting.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There. How are you feeling now, Blue?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Like hell. That's how he's feeling, and he takes a deep breath, then another and another and another, counting intervals again until he feels half-way functional.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'll have his breakdown later, once it's safe for him to do so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(There will be a later. There has to be. Shanks is on his way. Shanks will save him. Save him and save this kid, Captain's kid that they hadn't known about. Shanks </span>
  <em>
    <span>will.</span>
  </em>
  <span>)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy can't afford to think otherwise.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>The kid takes long enough to wake up that Buggy seriously worries that the Marines won't have to bother with an execution, but he does start to stirr about two hours into their imprisonment in Level 6.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's surprisingly alert when he does so, though Buggy thinks that might be more bluster than actual alertness: Portgas is wearing just as much seastone as he is, and from how long it took him to wake up, whoever knocked him out didn't hold back </span>
  <em>
    <span>at all</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Back amongst the conscious world, Portgas?" He calls out to the boy, careful to keep his voice at a tolerable level. "Any nausea or headache? Dizziness? Blurred vision? No point in checking for fatigue with those fucking shackles, but that looked like a nasty hit and no one needs a concussion on top of the bullshit heap we're already facing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't get conc-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're wearing seastone shackles, your logia won't be able to do anything to heal you until they're taken off and I wouldn't bet on that being soon. Concussions </span>
  <em>
    <span>suck,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and being concussed </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> a prisonner is even worse, trust me on that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sounds... like you're... speaking from experience," Portgas grunts as he brings himself up to a sitting position. "Any tips?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes. Answer the fucking medic so he can see if you've got one," Buggy, who has already checked <em>himself</em> for concussion symptoms and decided on a solid <em>maybe,</em> deadpans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To his credit, Portgas does actually stop to think and evaluate the state he's in, which is more than Buggy had expected of a D.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Vision's fine. I feel like shit, but don't feel like I'm gonna throw up the moment I move a muscle if that's what you're asking."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uh hu," Buggy nods, unconvinced. "Let me know </span>
  <em>
    <span>immediately</span>
  </em>
  <span> if that changes. There's not much I'll be able to do given our current accommodations, but I'll do my best."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"..." Ace pauses, looking at him from where he's leaning heavily against the cold wall of the cell. "You're a trained doctor?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Certified field medic, never got the full doctor's license. I know enough to keep people from bleeding out until an actual doctor gets there," Buggy says wryly, not mentionning the captain-shaped seaking in the room that they've both apparently decided to ignore. "And enough to know better than to disobey any order Loyal gives me when I do get injured. A decent doctor is worth their weight in gold on a pirate ship. Did you ever get yourself one? Last time we met you only had what, three people on your crew?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That gets him another wary look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You have good memory..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy scoffs. "More like Shanks wouldn't let me hear the end of it after meeting you, going on and on about meeting 'Anchor's brother!'. Talked my ear off on the denden for a good week after that. Your brother is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>menace</span>
  </em>
  <span>, by the way."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey! Don't talk about Luffy that way!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The brat kicked me in the nuts, </span>
  <em>
    <span>multiple times</span>
  </em>
  <span>, when I was only trying to see if he had what it takes to survive the Grand Line, never mind the New World," Buggy states calmly, watching Ace wince. "That was the last time I didn't wear a cup when testing rookies."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Portgas is now staring at him in outrage. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Testing rookies?"</span>
  </em>
  <span> He yelps. "That's why you attacked me and my crew?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Attack is a big word," Buggy tuts. "Set up a situation and goaded you to see how you would respond."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But... Orange Town-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"All part of the con. The villagers play along every so often, the 'destroyed town' was actually destroyed like twenty years ago by some no name assholes. The villagers actually get the marines to pay for repairs every time I pull that stunt. Your brother fell for the exact same one as you, by the way."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mentions of his brother, even insults, seem to be the best way to get the brat to come out of his wariness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Argh," Portgas groans. "I never suspected - does this mean you weren't going all out against me?!" He suddenly jerks up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy gives him a look. "Kid, you weren't even twenty years old and had been at sea for what, two months at most? I may not look like one, but I'm a New World Veteran. I'm an asshole, yes, but I'm not a bully. Bringing out Haki or a devil fruit against an </span>
  <em>
    <span>East Blue Rookie?</span>
  </em>
  <span> That's more than overkill, that's unnecessary, especially when I'm just trying to see if they've got potential. Now the ones that decide to raid the remaining villagers? Those ones get the full treatment, but even then I don't often have to bring out the big guns. It's </span>
  <em>
    <span>East Blue.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Other than the occasional fucking D - case in point, you and your brother - no one is really looking to make a big name out of there. They're happy enough being a big fish in a small water puddle instead."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid looks so </span>
  <em>
    <span>offended</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the idea that Buggy had been holding back when he fought him, and it would be hilarious in any other situation but now it's just... sad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you have against D's anyway?" The brat mutters. "And how do you know Shanks in the first place?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Was mostly raised by one, knew </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span> too many of them growing up, live in the home sea of Monkey Fucking D Garp, met you and your brother, take your pick," Buggy grouses, using the banter to steady himself, and it's <em>easy. </em>Easy to talk with Portgas, to fall into familiar patterns of banter usually reserved for Shanks or Kureha-sensei or Granny Kokoro. "And it's not that I don't </span>
  <em>
    <span>like</span>
  </em>
  <span> D's, some exceptions notwithstanding, but you guys attract way too much trouble for my taste, and I </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> end up getting dragged into it, usually against my will."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Portgas winces at the mention of Garp, and Buggy remembers that, since the brat had adopted Shanks' idiot as his brother, that probably means he grew up knowing the fucker.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And fuck, does that mean that captain told </span>
  <em>
    <span>Garp</span>
  </em>
  <span> about his kid, but not his own crew? What the everloving </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Captain? Buggy is </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> going to punch him in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>face</span>
  </em>
  <span> when he sees him next, you don't keep that kind of thing from your nakama only to tell your frenemy your biggest secret! Also, leaving a kid, any kid, with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Garp?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Seriously? Look at how well that went with Dragon, the fucker upped and founded a fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>Revolution</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was so eager to cut ties with his sperm donor!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Then had done a 180 and left his own kid with him, which, fucking hell Dragon there </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to have been better options if you, reasonably, didn't want to raise a baby in the middle of a Revolution!)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And oh, hey, there Buggy is, thinking about the seaking in the cell again! Fun times. Not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"As for Shanks," He goes on, because talking about Shanks is always easier. "We've known each other since we were what, five? Six? Thereabouts anyway. Met in the gutter, got picked up by Captain when he caught us stealing his wallet and refused to let us stay in the gutter and got us a place on his ship instead. Of course, Shanks is the one who decided to stay on the Crazy side of the Red Line afterwards while I did the reasonable thing and stayed in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sane</span>
  </em>
  <span> part of the world, so we kept our friendship on the downlow. No reason to paint a target on my back and give anyone leverage against him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Then why are you telling me this now?" Portgas demands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy shrugs. "Because my anonymity is well and truly shot, even we get out of this alive," He says plainly, as if it's not something liable to send him into a full-blown panic attack just thinking about it. "Akainu recognised me, tearing about twenty fucking years of laying low and staying quiet apart in a second. By now, he's definitely told at least Sengoku and the Elder stars about me being in Impel Down, and they'll be ordering a second executioner already. Plus," He points out towards the hallway and the visual denden keeping an eye on them. "That model can't pick up sound, and the angle is not good enough to read my lips. Might as well answer some of your questions if I can, if only so I don't get stuck so deep in my own head that I end up rocking on the floor in foetal position."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"... you're very blunt."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No point in lying to you when we're literally stuck together until they try to kill us," Buggy says wryly. "It's not like we'll have anyone else to talk to during that time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Kukuku," someone chuckles from the other side of the hallway. "I think you're wrong about that, clown."</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Ah. Of course. How could Buggy have </span>
  <em>
    <span>possibly</span>
  </em>
  <span> forgotten about the sand asshole the next cell over? It's not like he's been </span>
  <em>
    <span>deliberately</span>
  </em>
  <span> ignoring said asshole ever since he came to, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No one </span>
  <em>
    <span>worthwhile</span>
  </em>
  <span> to talk to," he amends, back still turned to the hall and to the other cells. "Though if you want to hear more about how that brother of yours kicked Crocodile's ass, feel free to ask him how it felt when his plans were ruined by a rubber idiot. It's been the talk of level one ever since his minions got locked up there."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The unintelligible screams of rage from Crocodile's cell were music to his ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I take it you know each other?" Portgas asks him, confusion badly hidden behind false disinterest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy scoffs. "We ran in the same circles when we were kids, and by that I mean that our crew would run into each other every so often, try and kick each others' ass while never actually trying to kill each other, and party together at the end of the day, if only so our respective first mates could commiserate about the bullshit of having a reckless D as a captain."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You leave Captain Rouge out of this, clown!" Crocodile snarls. "Just because you were scared shitless of her-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyone with a functioning </span>
  <em>
    <span>brain</span>
  </em>
  <span> was scared shitless of Blackjack D Rouge, Croco, get a grip already," Buggy snorts, then whirls around towards Ace when the boy's Voice suddenly </span>
  <em>
    <span>screams</span>
  </em>
  <span> in anguish and guilt. From the way Crocodile straightens in his cell, even he caught a whiff of that, and his Observation is nowhere near as good as Buggy's, and oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy curses his own shock-addled brain, remembering the conclusions he had just come to before he had been knocked out for mouthing off at the guards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah. Right," Buggy mutters, just as Ace opens his mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You were on my mother's crew?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crocodile...</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Freezes.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>So do most of the other prisoners in this hall, since their bickering had been loud enough to catch most of their attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then the hallway </span>
  <em>
    <span>explodes </span>
  </em>
  <span>in noise, people screaming and yelling and swearing the air blue left and right. Buggy's pretty sure he's seen more than one cross themself, or muttering prayers to whatever gods might protect them from the very name of Blackjack D Rouge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ha. Though luck. The only deity who gives a shit about pirate is Davy Jones, and he's always favoured the D's.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Too busy trying to conquer Alabasta to check the bounty posters, Crocodile?" Buggy says, and it comes out more tired than taunting as he leans his head back to rest against the cold wall. "Portgas D. 'Firefist' Ace. Captain of the Spade Pirates before joining up with Newgate and his lot and becoming the old man's Second Commander what, a year or so ago? Pretty sure Shanks made a trip to the Stenographer to inform Yadomaru and the others in person after meeting him, and I can't imagine the Queen of Clubs not calling you to tell you all about it, even if you sold out and became a Shichibukai. Been ignoring her attempts to contact you, haven't you? Too afraid of being yelled at by your big bad former first mate?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that Buggy could blame him for that last part - Yadomaru Lisa is just as terrifying as her captain had been, if in a different way altogether.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crocodile's Voice is... a mess, to put it lightly. There's grief, heavy and strangling, and anger, resentment and... guilt. Regret. Emotions Buggy wouldn't have expected the man to feel but, then again, Croco had always been a good actor, even as a child.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, kid," The former Shichibukai says, just loud enough to be heard by them over the commotion still happening in the other cells. "I was on Blackjack D. Rouge's crew. Was a cabin brat on the Black Maria around the same time that asshole was swabbing the deck of the Oro Jackson with the red-haired bastard."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ace flinches at the mention of the Oro Jackson and what it means, the sea king in the cell that they've both been ignoring, but he's so very eager to hear anything about his mom that it's radiating from his entire body. Crocodile must see it, too, because the man moves slightly closer to the bars, closer to them, so he can talk more quietly and not risk being overheard by the entire cell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you want to know, brat?"</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Buggy tunes out their conversation, deliberately ignoring the happiness coming off the boy in waves, barely dampened by their current situation. He doesn't want to be bitter, doesn't want to begrudge the boy for wanting to know more about Rouge, but, nor does he blame the kid for wanting nothing whatsoever to do with Roger and Roger's legacy, but...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This is a kid that should have grown up as Buggy's brother in all but blood. A kid that should have grown up happy, with a mother and a father to love him and raise him, not hunted by the marines before he even took his first breath. He doesn't know what exactly had happened to Rouge, but given Ace's supposed age and what Shanks had said after meeting the guy, she'd died early enough in the kid's life that he has no memory whatsoever of her, hadn't even known she was a pirate until Shanks had mentioned it <strike>[and doesn't that just make him want to gut Monkey D fucking Garp, denying Portgas his mother's legacy]</strike>. The boy shouldn't be in a cell in the deepest level of Impel Down, awaiting the death sentence that's going to be turned into a public spectacle just because of the blood that flows through his veins.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy shouldn't have had to be hunted down like he had been, either. Shouldn't have had to carry the weight of Roger's legacy on his young shoulders, shouldn't have had to inherit Captain's enemies who had been all too eager to transfer their grudge onto the easiest target now that said target's staunchest protector was out of the picture <strike>and those who were left had removed themselves from the picture, leaving him and Shanks to try and survive on their own, and they nearly hadn't- no stop don't think about those times-</strike>. Shouldn't be in this cell either, shouldn't still have to pay for the sins of a man who died twenty years ago, but-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least he's an adult. At least he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> the man for whose legacy he might lose his head soon. At least he actually sailed with him, to that island at the end of the world. At least he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>saw</span>
  </em>
  <span> the One Piece and all that it means with his own eyes, at least he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>understands</span>
  </em>
  <span> why the Marines are so desperate for that secret to never go be revealed. And he won't, he'd never planned on telling </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone</span>
  </em>
  <span> about what they found on Laugh Tale - or Raftel, as the people have deformed the name over the years, just like they butchered Gol D Roger into Gold Roger because it sold more papers and allowed the World Government to try and pass the D under silence - but he's not going to stop anyone else from finding it either. Just because it's not his place to reveal the truth doesn't mean it </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouldn't</span>
  </em>
  <span> be revealed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It </span>
  <em>
    <span>should.</span>
  </em>
  <span> But not by him, and not now. But the time for the reveal is growing closer, and Buggy remembers Shanks calling him, missing an arm and half-delirious from the pain, to tell him about this boy he'd met, the boy who had the same dream as Captain, the boy who he had given Captain's hat to - the last hat Shanks, inveterate hat thief that he had been growing up, had ever worn, never replaced after it had been placed on that little boy's head. Remembers meeting the boy in Orange Town, remembers fighting him and thinking </span>
  <em>
    <span>that's a D if I've ever met one</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Remembers the barely existing crew with him, the three-swords pirate hunter who had travelled with him and the ginger brat who had tried to steal from Buggy and used the kid as her scapegoat - before ultimately joining him in truth, becoming his navigator. Remembers thinking </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Maybe he's the one who will uncover the One Piece and reveal it to the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he survives long enough, which isn't a given since he's such a fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>D</span>
  </em>
  <span> it's painful to watch. Just as reckless as Captain had been, too, but with none of the carefully honed power to back it up, no fighting style that wasn't pure brawler, and barely three brain cells hiding underneath that hat, most often focused on food over anything else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's such an </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiot</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Buggy thinks, closing his eyes for a moment and replaying his two meetings with the kid before he got thrown into Impel Down by the kid's grandfather - Monkey Fucking D Garp, </span>
  <em>
    <span>again,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Buggy hates that his head had started seeing the parallels between his situation and Captain's as soon as Garp had barged into the Marine base, spitting at the mouth and looking for someone to blame for his grandson deciding to publicly embrace a life of piracy instead of becoming a law-abiding Marine - which, really! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Garp</span>
  </em>
  <span> wasn't even a law-abiding Marine himself, he should have known better! But the parallels </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> been there, and Buggy hadn't needed the Hero of the Marines to comment on it - not that it had stopped the old monkey from doing so, of course, because when has life ever gone in Buggy's favour? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why can't he just have nice things for his people and </span>
  <em>
    <span>keep them?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Is that too much to ask? Is it?</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Buggy had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy</span>
  </em>
  <span> in East Blue. He'd had his crazies (the best crew a man could possibly ask for, fantastic nakamas, each with their own skills and each possessing the </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> rare gifts of common sense and working survival instincts, such a nice change from, you know, </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone else</span>
  </em>
  <span> in Buggy's life until he'd met them), his ship (Tom's last work, the last ship the old man had created on, in stolen hours between trying to get his sea train to actually float over the water), his network (low level pirates and marine-sceptical civilians who were more than willing to work with him in exchange for help smuggling goods and people around)... </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'd been </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sure, he had missed Shanks like </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and damn Monkey D Garp for being such a pain in the ass and holding grudges so well, but Buggy had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And now here he is, stuck in fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>Impel Down</span>
  </em>
  <span> because of Monkey D Fucking Garp and his fucking temper, because of another idiot D who is going to take the world by the storm and decided to take Buggy along for part of the ride.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck, but Buggy misses </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> idiot D who took the world by the storm and Buggy along for the ride. Misses him like it's only been days, not years, his grief never waning completely and now brought to the forefront of his mind again by this young man with curls and freckles and a D in his name, a young man who denies his parentage, denies sharing the same blood as the man who had practically raised Buggy, and Buggy gets it, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span>, probably better than anyone else in the world, but it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurts.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It hurts because this is his Captain's kid, and in a better world he would have seen the kid grow up to become the man he is today. In a better world, the kid would have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>family,</span>
  </em>
  <span> would have been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>brother</span>
  </em>
  <span> even if Buggy might not have admitted it out loud unless Captain said it first. And Captain, Captain would have been so excited about having a kid, would have freaked out and panicked every time his kid so much as stubbed a toe, would have gone completely over the top with his kid, and he would have loved that kid </span>
  <em>
    <span>so fucking much</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The kid would have grown up knowing he was loved unconditionally by at least two ships worth of people, and especially by his parents, would have never so much as </span>
  <em>
    <span>doubted</span>
  </em>
  <span> his father's love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hurts because Buggy knows exactly how Ace felt when Akainu brought up Roger's legacy, the whirlwind of hatred and self-loathing that went through the kid, and it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurts.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy wants to blame it on the oversensitive Haki bullshit, but... he can't. He understands why Ace wants nothing to do with Roger or anything related to the man, and it's </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ace's choice</span>
  </em>
  <span> no matter what, but it still hurts. Because Ace is rejecting the closest thing Buggy had to a father, and the family they could have shared, and Buggy didn't even know the kid existed until a couple of hours ago but for a brief moment he had hoped-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But no. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. He's got Shanks and he's got his crazies and he's got Kureha-sensei for all that she scares the crap out of him most days. That's all the family he needs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wanting more would be greedy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that's the thing, isn't it? Buggy </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> greedy, always has been. Selfish and greedy and cowardly, always yearning for something he couldn't have, and all it had gotten him was heartbreak. Wanting a family <strike>instead of a crew who left him behind</strike>, wanting his <strike>father</strike> Captain alive <strike>instead of dead</strike>, wanting food and shelter <strike>instead of shackles and torture</strike>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy is many things. Selfish. Greedy. Cowardly. He knows he’s not the smartest knife in the bunch, and it took a few tries, but he's learnt his lesson. Better to stop hoping than to be crushed by the disappointment afterwards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So what if he likes the kid? So what if their earlier banter had only reinforced that opinion? So what if he's feeling surprisingly protective of a boy he only truly met today? So what if parts of him wants to take him under his wing like Shanks did with that rubber brat of his?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid already found himself another family, one he will happily claim for all to see, the massive tattoo on his back more than proof of that. What would Buggy even be able to offer him that Newgate and his lot couldn't? Nothing, that's what.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid doesn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> Buggy in his life, and definitely doesn't want him in it either. And Buggy will respect that. He'll do everything he can to get this kid out of this mess alive, because he is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>kid</span>
  </em>
  <span> and doesn't deserve what the world is throwing at him, because he shouldn't have had to be hunted down before he was even born.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>[Because no one came to help Buggy when he was but a kid with the world after his head, and he swore an oath to Davy Jones that he would be different, and he may be selfish and greedy and cowardly but he is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> an oathbreaker and refuses to become one, ever. He will get the kid out of this alive or die trying, there will be no other alternative for him.]</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'll do everything he can to get this kid out of this mess alive, and then he's going to leave before the kid can tell him to get lost, because just because Buggy knows the brat will never want him in his life doesn't mean he has to torture himself by actually listening to the brat say so. No, he'll get the brat out and safely back with Newgate and his lot, and he'll slink off somewhere, more than likely on Shanks' ship, and get his well deserved breakdown over with, safe in Shanks' cabin and Shanks' embrace, where no one can see him shatter.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>He tunes back into the conversation just in time to hear Crocodile ask the one question he </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> shouldn't have.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"- and what happened to her, anyway? Captain Rouge just went off one day, left Lisa in charge and told us she was taking a break for a while and would find us again when she was ready to raise hell with us again-" and isn't that an interesting way of phrasing things? Raising hell indeed - well, a young D with both her </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> Captain's genes would have been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>hellion</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the very least, so the comparison is more than fitting. "but she never came back and no matter how hard we looked, we never found her. We figured something must have happened to her but... She never would have gone </span>
  <em>
    <span>quietly.</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy sees the way Ace flinches, feels the self-loathing and self-blaming positively radiating from the kid, and he takes a breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In. And out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And steps in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Crocodile."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's something in his tone that has the other man immediately focusing on him, a sarcastic remark no doubt already on the tip of his tongue, but Buggy doesn't give him the time to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He really, really doesn't want to be the one doing this. Shanks had done it for the rest of the Blackjacks, after meeting Ace and hearing that Rouge had died on Baterilla after giving birth to him, and now that Buggy knows who Ace's father is... well. He can put the pieces together well enough to fill in the gaps in that story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There is a rumour on the waves of one who once sailed aboard this ship.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crocodile's voice is quiet, barely audible over the still noisy corridor. The man is paler than Buggy has ever seen him, scar stark against his suddenly ashen skin. He's doing his best to lock down his Voice, but Buggy's Haki is more than sensitive enough to pick up on the sheer grief bursting underneath Crocodile's skin. If it weren't for the seastone shackles around the former Shichibukai's wrists, Buggy is pretty sure the whole prison would be crumbling to sand around them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't stop. He can't, not now that the eulogy has started, even if Crocodile is </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone</span>
  </em>
  <span> and will have to ask every single question himself. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>can't.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He knows those words by heart, learned them long ago at Gol D Roger's knees, and had hoped that he would never be the one to speak them or hear them. They are instinct and tradition and old and Buggy hates that he is the one giving them to Crocodile today. They're not friends, have never been more than begrudgingly friendly towards each other at their captains' behests, but...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy wouldn't wish those words on anyone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There is a rumour on the waves,” he continues swallowing his own grief and guilt and ignoring Ace's confusion for a moment. “Of one who now sails with Davy Jones.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked it :D</p><p>Let me know what you thought of it!</p><p>Next up (whenever I manage to write it): An eulogy a long time in the making. Grief and regret, and a lesson on traditions. Some people get some very bad news. Some sea kings are about to regret their territory choices. (if other characters don't hijack the plot again xD)</p><p>Special credit to mydetheturk for the idea that Crocodile was once an apprentice on Rouge's crew!</p><p><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1778161"> Check their "Piracy is the Secondary Objective" series! </a> </p><p>And special thanks to the rest of the Discord people: you are enablers and I adore you for it</p><p>  <a href="https://discord.gg/xreVUA2">I have a Discord now!</a></p><p>Feel free to join it if you want to yell at me for giving you feels about Buggy the Clown, throw headcanons around, discuss latest chapters, give me new plotbunnies (you know who you are), share your own writing or favourite fics/art, or just want a place to virtually hang out at during these trying times: you're all welcome aboard !</p><p>ALSO! Thanks to the amazing Barid, <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/WatashitachiwaRogerkaizokudesuwestillstandproud"> the main fic now has a TV Tropes Page</a>! Please go and check it out, and feel free to add to it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The stars will shine brightly / No more in the sky / They've lost their best sailor to guide / For at first light this morn / The Old Captain has died / Let him live on in legend tonight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Crocodile feels like he's underwater, like there's water rushing in his ears, dampening the sound around him to an inaudible fog as Boke no Buggy finishes the eulogy.</p><p>The eulogy for Blackjack D. Rouge.</p><p>The eulogy for his captain, his captain who Crocodile hadn't known had died, for all that he had suspected it (mostly when she didn't come to kick his ass when he accepted the title of Shichibukai, because that, if nothing else, would have made her come out of wherever she might have been hiding to tan his hide personally, and he may or may not have accepted the position in part because he had hoped- ). His captain who is dead. Who is dead and was buried in the earth, like a landlubber instead of given back to the sea like the Daughter of Davy Jones that she had been, and it makes him so fucking angry that it nearly overpowers the grief screaming in his veins.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone!</p><p>I hope you and your loved ones are as well as can be given the current situation, which unfortunately is still not getting better &lt;3</p><p>But it's winter now, and celebrations of all kind are happening, though in different ways from previous years. I hope you will still find ways to safely enjoy those celebrations, and find ways to stay in contact with your loved ones.</p><p>All I can offer you in those trying times is another chapter of this fic (the main one is still fighting me, though it's getting better and I'll be on holidays starting tomorrow so I'm hoping to be able to have something to share there before New Year's if all goes well)</p><p>Chapter warnings: FEELS (it's me, so that's a given by now), ANGST (see previous comment), Crocodile FEELS, Grief, Guilt, A very pissed off Shanks, some very unconscious seakings!</p><p>Basically? Bring your own tissues time again xD</p><p>Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!</p><p>Fic title from the song "Mutiny" by the Jolly Rogers; Chapter title is from "The Old Captain", by Brillig, which I highly recommend listening to: it was my inspiration for the whole Eulogy tradition in the first place!</p><p>Special credit once again to mydetheturk for the idea that Crocodile was once an apprentice on Rouge's crew! They graciously allowed me to play with that idea (and I thanked them for it by swinging the angst bat straight at them xD)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>The stars will shine brightly<br/>
No more in the sky<br/>
They've lost their best sailor to guide<br/>
For at first light this morn<br/>
T</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>he Old Captain has died<br/>
Let him live on in legend tonight</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>(Brillig - The Old Captain)</span>
  </em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>It takes Crocodile a few moments to gather himself enough to respond.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What say the waves?” The logia swallows heavily, but manages to continue. “What tale do they tell of the captain of the ship on which I once sailed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy inhales. Exhales. Ignores the small gasps that escapes the boy next to him as he realises what is happening, ignores the whirlpool of grief and guilt and despair-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They tell the tale of one who stood strong and fierce and was felled by no enemy yet her death was at their hands. They tell the tale of one who hid to protect one who was not but who would be. They tell the tale of one who made time do her bidding and turned nine months into as many as were necessary. They tell the tale of one who faced trial and pain alone, not by choice but by necessity. They tell the tale of one who loved and lost and decided that love mattered more. They tell the tale of one who now sails with Davy Jones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What says the foam? What stories does it brings of the captain of the ship on which I once sailed?” Crocodile asks again, eyes locked on Buggy's from across the bars. Buggy would look away, if he could, but he can't. He doesn't like Crocodile, but he is a fellow pirate, a follower of Davy Jones even if he's a sellout who played along with the marines, and he deserves to hear this properly. More than that, Rouge deserves the respect of a proper eulogy, no matter Buggy's personal feelings towards Crocodile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The foam brings the stories of one who evaded her enemies and outwitted them at every turn. It brings the stories of one who put another's life above her own and did it gladly. It brings the stories of one who was trapped, yet was not caught in the trap. It brings the story of one who was found by one who should have been an enemy, and yet was not. It brings the story of one who hid long enough and yet too long. It brings the story of one who now sails with Davy Jones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What says the wind?” Crocodile's voice cracks, ever so slightly, barely audible, and Buggy wishes someone else was there, any other Blackjack pirate, so that Crocodile wouldn't have to be the only one asking the questions, so he could have someone else to rely on. But no one else can, because the rest of the Blackjacks are an ocean away, on that little island they've set up their bar on, and Ace might be Rouge's son but he never sailed with her, never got a chance to share a ship with her. He can't step in, can't ask the questions in Crocodile's stead, and so the former Shichibukai has to shoulder that responsability alone. “What news does it whisper of the captain of the ship on which I once sailed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The wind whispers the news of one who named another in her last breath. It whispers the news of one who gave another away because there was no choice. It whispers the news of one who should have watched another grow and whose life was cut too short. It whispers the news of one who should have survived, had her enemies not cut off all aid. It whispers the news of one who remained free and unbowed. It whispers the news of one who now sails with Davy Jones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What says the sea?” How Crocodile keeps his voice unbroken is unknown to Buggy, because his Haki is </span>
  <em>
    <span>screaming</span>
  </em>
  <span> in grief and pain and regret. “What knowledge does she have of the captain of the ship on which I once sailed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The sea knows of one who sailed upon her for years and sailed true. She knows of one who knew her well, at her worst and at her best. She knows of one who loved her and was loved by her in return. She knows of one who fought for the freedom of all, and was denied it for herself when the end came. She knows of one others have tried to make the world forget. She knows of one who now sails with Davy Jones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What says Davy Jones?” It's barely above a whisper, and it's a miracle that Buggy can even hear it.  “What says he of the captain of the ship on which I once sailed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This is the last part of the ritual, and it takes all Buggy has to speak the words aloud, with Crocodile barely hanging on a thread and Portgas next to him, staring at him, first in confusion and now in grief and regret and </span>
  <em>
    <span>longing</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>guilt.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Davy Jones says of one who now sails with him that she died on the Island of Baterilla in the Blue of the South, and that there she was buried. He says of one who now sails with him that she died over twenty years ago, and yet her death was silenced. He says of one who now sails with him that she gave birth and name to a son before she came aboard his ship. He says of one who now sails with him that she loved her crew and that she loved her son. He says of one who now sails with him that she was great, and deserved better than what she got. He says of one who now sails with him that her name was Portgas D. ‘Blackjack’ Rouge.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One last part, one last sentence and then he can fall silent, can let Crocodile weep in silence and in as much privacy as he can give him given the circumstances.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There is a rumour on the waves that Blackjack D. Rouge now sails with Davy Jones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sudden silence around them is deafening. The other prisoners must have caught on to what was being said, what tale was being told, and down there, at this level? It's mostly old timers, people who sailed the blues long before Gol D. Roger’s execution sent thousands of rookies out at sea with no idea of the world they were joining by claiming the title of 'pirate'. They know the code, and even if most of them would gladly slaughter each other if they could? Would gladly slaughter him, or Crocodile, or Portgas?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They keep their silence as the eulogy is told. There's no flag to hang at half-mast here, no black triangle to fly next to the Jolly Roger, but the respect and distance is given nonetheless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because they are Children of Davy Jones, and one of their own has just been told of one who now sails with him.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Crocodile feels like he's underwater, like there's water rushing in his ears, dampening the sound around him to an inaudible fog as Boke no Buggy finishes the eulogy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The eulogy for Blackjack D. Rouge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The eulogy for his </span>
  <em>
    <span>captain,</span>
  </em>
  <span> his captain who Crocodile hadn't known had died, for all that he had suspected it (mostly when she didn't come to kick his ass when he accepted the title of Shichibukai, because that, if nothing else, would have made her come out of wherever she might have been hiding to tan his hide </span>
  <em>
    <span>personally,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and he may or may not have accepted the position in part because he had </span>
  <em>
    <span>hoped-</span>
  </em>
  <span>). His captain who is </span>
  <em>
    <span>dead. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Who is dead and was </span>
  <em>
    <span>buried</span>
  </em>
  <span> in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>earth,</span>
  </em>
  <span> like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>landlubber </span>
  </em>
  <span>instead of given back to the sea like the Daughter of Davy Jones that she had been, and it makes him so fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>angry</span>
  </em>
  <span> that it nearly overpowers the grief </span>
  <em>
    <span>screaming</span>
  </em>
  <span> in his veins.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because Captain is </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She's gone and she's never coming back, and none of them were there. She died </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone,</span>
  </em>
  <span> on land, and that's </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong,</span>
  </em>
  <span> wrong on so many levels, and she's </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span> and so is his last hope, and Crocodile</span>
</p><p>
  <span>                                                                  doesn't</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                                                         know</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                                                                                   what</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                                                                                                     to</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                                                                                                                        do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rouge was <em>Captain,</em> was <em>leader,</em> was </span>
  <em>
    <span>theirs</span>
  </em>
  <span> and now she's<em> not.</em> Hasn't been for over twenty years because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>died</span>
  </em>
  <span> and none of them had known-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His breathing grows faster, harried, as if the air can't quite reach his lungs, and the silence now that that damn clown has stopped talking is </span>
  <em>
    <span>deafening.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Rouge is dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rouge</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                  Is</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                                                 Dead.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Under his skin, the sand rages like the worst of sandstorms, roaring for the freedom to unleash his turmoil and grief on his surroundings, to destroy building of stone and metal that holds him prisoner, that keeps him from storming Baterilla and getting his Captain </span>
  <em>
    <span>back</span>
  </em>
  <span> and bringing her back to the others so she could be given a proper funeral.</span>
</p><p>
  <strike>
    <span>Even if they hate him, even if they refuse to let him be there to grant her one final goodbye-</span>
  </strike>
</p><p>
  <strike>
    <span>They deserve to know, and Captain deserves to be given back to the sea, like she </span>
    <em>
      <span>should have been.</span>
    </em>
  </strike>
</p><p>
  <span>But there's seastone on his wrists, shackles binding him and binding his powers, and the storm that rages in his ears does not exist in the outside world, does not exist outside of his own heart, and it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurts, </span>
  </em>
  <span>it hurts </span>
  <em>
    <span>so much</span>
  </em>
  <span> and fuck is that how the fucking clown and the asshole redhead had felt, back then? Back when Roger's head had hit the ground? Because this is fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Crocodile hates it, hates it hates it hates it and he wants to tear the world apart with his bare hand and his hook, wants his sand to turn this prison into </span>
  <em>
    <span>dust, </span>
  </em>
  <span>wants-</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>(He wants his crew. He wants Rouge and he wants the Black Maria and he wants Lisa and Kuukaku and Shunsui and Jyuushiro and Nanao and all the others, the ones he hasn't seen or talked to since he'd accepted the Shichibukai position, the ones who haven't talked to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> since he accepted the position except to scream at him, but he doesn't care, doesn't care if they hate him as long as they are </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span> to do so, and that was his deal, when he took on the mantle of the Shichibukai, his cooperation for their protection, and if he has his way they will </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> know about it.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Rouge had disappeared and they hadn't been able to find her. Blackjack D. Rouge, gone without a trace, without a word, without a noise, and that's wrong wrong wrong and there aren't many people out there who can do that, who could make someone like her disappear without a trace, and those who can </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrify </span>
  </em>
  <span>him. And if they can disappear Blackjack D. Rouge, then what can they do to the rest of them? To the rest of Crocodile's hodgepodge family? Crocodile hadn't wanted to find out, and that's why he had said </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes</span>
  </em>
  <span> when Monkey fucking D Garp when he had come to him with the 'invitation' to join the Shichibukai.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(And Crocodile </span>
  <em>
    <span>hates it,</span>
  </em>
  <span> hates that he's become the Marines' attack dog, but it's kept the rest of the Blackjacks safe and it had protected the weirdos he'd later become attached to and he will never not regret that.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Are they safe, now that's he's no longer a warlord? Are they safe now that he's been locked down in Impel Down? Did the Marines send battleships after them as soon as the shackles had locked around his wrists? He doesn't know and it's been driving him </span>
  <em>
    <span>crazy.</span>
  </em>
  <span>)</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Ideas and emotions swirling around his mind, slipping between his fingers like grains of sands when he tries to stop them from spiraling, when he tries to shore himself back up into something resembling a functioning human being, until his metaphorical fingers clutch around a cluster, a rough melted ball of sand halfway turned into glass, finally dragging him out of the whirlwind of the sandstorm and into the eye of the storm, because-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's Rouge's son, in the cell opposite his. Rouge's son, the one he hadn't known about until now, the one his Captain had died to bring into the world, and he's here and he's </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Rouge isn't, hasn't been in two decades and Crocodile will never be okay with that, but this is Rouge's </span>
  <em>
    <span>son</span>
  </em>
  <span> and he hadn't known anything about his mother and Crocodile will tell him all the stories he wants, will tell him everything about Rouge and the Blackjacks and-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rouge's son, in a </span>
  <em>
    <span>cell.</span>
  </em>
  <span> In Level </span>
  <em>
    <span>6</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Impel Down.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Why? Why would they- They’ve erased Rouge from the history books, tried their best to scrub her and the Blackjacks from living memory, not wanting to let the world to remember the woman who had led a crusade against slave traders and hadn’t let anyone stop her, no matter their blood or status or title, and barely anyone had known her actual family name, why would they target her son?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>'Newgate's second Commander', the clown had said, and yeah, a Yonkou's lieutenant is probably on par with a disgraced Shichibukai when it comes to the level of security needed to keep them under control but there's something more going on there, there has to be, because why would </span>
  <em>
    <span>Boke no Buggy</span>
  </em>
  <span> be here as well, he who had always done his best to fly under the radar, hiding amongst the riff raff of East Blue and content with letting the world forget that he sailed with Roger all those years ago?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Turned nine months into <em>as</em> <em>many as were necessary.</em></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Baterilla.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Baterilla who had seen the worst of the Marines' hunts for Rogers' child.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid looks twenty at most, but if Captain had delayed his birth by </span>
  <em>
    <span>months...</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Crocodile has always been too smart for his own good, Captain used to tell him that often, used to say that it would lead him into trouble more often than not, which it </span>
  <em>
    <span>had,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and maths and logic have </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>been something he's excelled at.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Portgas D. Ace. Son of Blackjack D. Rouge and of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Gol D. Roger.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No wonder Captain hadn't said where she was going, Lisa would have </span>
  <em>
    <span>gutted</span>
  </em>
  <span> Roger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck, but why? Captain, why </span>
  <em>
    <span>Roger</span>
  </em>
  <span> of all people?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crocodile thought she'd had </span>
  <em>
    <span>taste</span>
  </em>
  <span>! She had gone out with Shakky at one point, had had a thing in Dressrosa with that princess and her soldier boyfriend, what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell</span>
  </em>
  <span> had happened to her standards if she had willingly hooked up with Roger?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, loath as he is to admit it, it had to have been willingly because there's no force on this planet capable of making Blackjack D. Rouge do anything she doesn't want to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But fuck, </span>
  <em>
    <span>how?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Last time he had seen the two of them together, Captain Rouge had thrown Gol overboard for Davy Jones' sake!</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>He shakes himself out of the slippery sands of his thoughts, focuses back on the ball of red hot glass forming in front of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Portgas D. Ace. Blackjack D. Rouge's son. Newgate's second commander. Gol D. Roger biological kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Who is in a cell with one of Roger's other kids. The ones he may not have sired himself but were his nonetheless, no matter what anyone else said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes meet Boke no Buggy's, and whatever the clown sees on his face must be clear enough, because his lips purse tightly as he gives a sharp nod.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Roger's legacies, in Impel Down, roughed up and with what looks like two pairs of seastone shackles apiece, with what little he had managed to glean from their conversation before he had made his presence known...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They're going to kill them. They're going to put them up on a platform in front of a crowd and then they're going to kill them in front of the entire world, just like they had done for Roger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They're going to kill his Captain's kid for the blood that flows in his veins, for blood that had been spilled on cobblestones in Loguetown long before this kid had taken his first breath, and Crocodile is stuck in a cell with seastone shackles preventing him from breaking the kid out and getting him to safety.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Getting him to the Blackjacks, because they're still the ones Crocodile thinks of when he thinks of </span>
  <em>
    <span>home, </span>
  </em>
  <span>of </span>
  <em>
    <span>safety</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>protection,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and who else is he going to trust with his Captain's son? Fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>Newgate?</span>
  </em>
  <span> The man who hadn't been able to prevent him from being captured in the first place? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck no.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He would rather trust fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>Akagami</span>
  </em>
  <span> before he willingly goes to Edward fucking Newgate for help, and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>despises</span>
  </em>
  <span> Shanks for being a happy go lucky moron who's chronically unable to take anything seriously unless it comes to a handfull of people.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of which happens to be in this very prison.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>"Boke no Buggy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The clown turns slightly to face him better, Captain's kid - Ace, his name is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ace,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he's his own person Crocodile, not an extension of your dead Captain and he deserves better than you treating him like one - following suit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Further down the hall, the other prisoners have started talking again, though they're quieter and none of them dare to celebrate the announcement of Blackjack D. Rouge's death like they might have in other circumstances. Not with him here, not when the Eulogy has just been spoken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Assholes they might be, all of them (and after months in this corridor Crocodile can confirm that they </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span>, indeed, all assholes), but they're old timers who've lived by the Code their whole life. They will celebrate his Captain's death, but only once he's no longer in their immediate vicinity, or until at least a week has passed, whichever comes first. Traditions are </span>
  <em>
    <span>important</span>
  </em>
  <span> and this one more than most. Crocodile himself has gone out of his way more than once to teach some impudent brats a lesson when they had disregarded the black pavillon floating at half mast and attacked a clearly grieving crew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Tell me the red-haired idiot has a plan to get you out of this alive and that you can get him out at the same time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because Crocodile is not an </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiot</span>
  </em>
  <span> and just because the rest of the world seems to have forgotten that these two used to be thick as thieves as kids doesn't mean that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> has. Crocodile doesn't know when exactly the clown was thrown into Impel Down, but it can't have been that long before him, because </span>
  <em>
    <span>Impel Down is still standing.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And Crocodile may not like the guy, but even he has to admit that the moron deserves his Yonkou title. There would have been nothing left of Impel Down if Akagami had had the time to make his way here already.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes stay locked on the clown's.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He has so many questions, so many things he wants to </span>
  <em>
    <span>scream</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the man who had just brought him the worst news of his life (but had also brought him </span>
  <em>
    <span>closure,</span>
  </em>
  <span> something he had started to suspect he would never have, something that might stop the nightmares of Captain Rouge on an execution platform, her head hitting the pavement with the same sick slick sounds as Roger's had. To replace them with others, most assuredly, but... now he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And when he gets out of there he's going to find where she's buried and make sure the rest of the crew can give her a proper sea burial if they haven't already, that she can be given back to the sea like she should have been all those years ago), but he limits himself to just this one question. For now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because the most important thing right here, right now, is getting Portgas D. Ace out of this mess alive, no matter what bitter old men with petty grudges and impossible standards think.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Buggy takes his time to think his answer through, takes the time to look at Crocodile's face, not quite as unreadable as the older man would probably like to believe it is, takes the time to get a feel for the man's Voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Guilt and Grief and Disbelief and Anger and Panic, not for himself but for Ace. Good. Buggy can work with that, can work with Crocodile to get this kid out of this shit alive, even if they can't stand each other. This is far more important than their petty grudges.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"One of his men infiltrated the prison and has seen me get dragged to Level 6 after Akainu recognised me," he admits, barely loud enough for the man to hear and his face angled so that the visual DenDen mushi can't get a good look at his lips. "He'll report to him as soon as he can, but I have no idea how far out he is, nor how soon they plan on putting on a show with us two as the main stars. Shanks has allies in the area, though, so they might be able to stall until he can get there - and Newgate will definitely make an appearance as well, so that should give Shanks enough time to make it in time to stop the execution if not to break us out of Impel Down."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hesitates, bites his lip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The Blackjacks know about Ace. If they announce his upcoming execution in the papers... You know them better than me, Croc'. What are the odds of them </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> showing up?"</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Back in level 1, hidden in a corner of a mostly deserted cell whose occupants were either asleep or unconscious, Rockstar gulps as he slips a small silver DenDen mushi out of his hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Swallows heavily as he orders it to call the Red Force.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Benn? I need you to put Okashira on the line. Now. We have a problem."</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>On the other side of the Red Line, in the middle of a battle against some of Big Mom's younger children who had thought it smart to attack the so-called 'Lazy Emperor' and rant about how they were going to take over all his territories, an Emperor steps away from his throne to take a call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                          The</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                   Sky</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>F<br/>
</span>
  <span>a</span>
</p><p>
  <span>l</span>
</p><p>
  <span>l</span>
</p><p>
  <span>s</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>D</span>
</p><p>
  <span>o</span>
</p><p>
  <span>w</span>
</p><p>
  <span>n</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Shanks likes to think that he's a pretty easy-going person. He tries to enjoy life as much as he can, knowing better than most just how easily it can get cut short. He loves the sea and he loves his ship and he loves his nakama and he loves his precious people, and he doesn't care too much what others think of him so long as those he cares about are safe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy hasn't been safe since Monkey Fucking D. Garp had thrown him into Impel Down for testing Luffy's resolve five months ago. By the time Mohji had managed to safely get word of Buggy's capture to him, he had already been processed by the guards and thrown into the prison. It had taken nearly four months for Rockstar to have a working plan for infiltrating Marineford, and it had involved far too much risks for Shanks' taste even then, despite their decision to involve their revolutionary contacts having granted them more intel than they would have had otherwise. Rockstar had finally managed to infiltrate the prison three weeks ago, and Shanks had been tense ever since, with now two of his precious people inside Impel Down, especially since Rockstar was only able to report sporadically and had yet to find Buggy or be able to contact him in any way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The assholes who had decided to attack a territory under his protection had turned up just as the right time for him to take some of his frustration out on their sorry hides. Big Mom is getting bolder, challenging him like this. Is she trying to court war with him? Or just to </span>
  <em>
    <span>court</span>
  </em>
  <span> him, again? She had not been pleased when she had refused to marry any of the children she had offered to him, and she's not above being petty like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks doesn't feel like playing her game today, which is why he's letting the rest of his crew have fun with the idiots instead while he simply watches from the helm as they get their ass kicked. Benn isn't fighting either, instead manning the coms inside since Lucky had taken the previous shift.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Captain."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speak of the devil, he shall appear. But even as he turns around to face his first mate, Shanks knows that the news he carries will not be good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wordlessly, Benn hands him the special DenDen mushi, the twin to the one Rockstar had taken with him to Impel Down, bred specifically for this purpose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Rockstar?" he asks, worry taking over his voice. He hadn't expected his spymaster to call him this soon, had been warned that any communication from within the prison would be limited to avoid being found out. For Rockstar to call him this soon after infiltrating the prison... well, it would either be very good news or very bad news, and Shanks knows which one his money is on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okashira," and the simple fact of hearing his nakama's voice is a relief, to know that Rockstar is still alive and seemingly unharmed - no pain detectable in his voice. "I have... concerning news."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks is already gesturing at Benn to change their heading towards Paradise even as he answers: "Tell me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Portgas D. Ace was brought into the prison this afternoon by Akainu himself, along with at least thirty marines and two half giants dragging the kid along as he fought all the way," His spymaster's voice was detached, clinical, and that's how Shanks knows the news is going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad.</span>
  </em>
  <span> "Seastone restraints on his wrists and ankles and still fighting them all the way. They must have come through the hall where Captain Buggy was being held - I didn't witness the scene myself, but I saw the outcome and managed to get some intel from other prisoners who had been closer."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another sharp intake of breath. "Akainu recognised him, Captain. Recognised Captain Buggy as one of Roger's apprentices, and then he dragged him out of the cell and burned him and put seastone restraints on him - arms and legs, just like Portgas."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks' haki </span>
  <em>
    <span>roars,</span>
  </em>
  <span> ready to rage, but Rockstar's voice interrupts him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Captain, Akainu spoke of an execution, of getting rid of two of Roger's legacies at once, and Portgas went </span>
  <em>
    <span>nuts.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Roared for all the prison to hear that the only father he had was Whitebeard and no one else."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, it can't be-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Shanks had been the one to recognise who Ace's mother had been, had been the one to carry news of her death to her crew, and he knows, </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows</span>
  </em>
  <span> how much his Captain had been taken with Blackjack D. Rouge. The dates didn't match, but... if anyone could have slowed her pregnancy down, it would have been Rouge, wouldn't it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They dragged them both past the cell I was in, and Okashira, Captain Buggy wasn't in a good shape, but the way he spoke to them- he named Akainu and the marines cowards in the eyes of Davy Jones, Okashira. Spat their names out like a curse and called them cowards for targeting children instead of going after Roger's adult crewmates, and he was knocked out before he could say much more, and they took them down to the lowest levels, but Okashira, the rumours here are </span>
  <em>
    <span>flying.</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buggy has been recognised, BUggy has been hurt, </span>
  <em>
    <span>again, </span>
  </em>
  <span>because of their past, because of their association with Roger, and Shanks wants to </span>
  <em>
    <span>slaughter every single marine alive on this planet</span>
  </em>
  <span> because this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>BUggy, </span>
  </em>
  <span>his </span>
  <em>
    <span>BUggy,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and there's Portgas as well, Portgas who is somehow Captain's son on top of being Blackjack D Rouge's and also Luffy's brother, and Shanks' can't let him die, can't let </span>
  <em>
    <span>either of them</span>
  </em>
  <span> die, and he's </span>
  <em>
    <span>furious</span>
  </em>
  <span> and his Haki </span>
  <em>
    <span>flares.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Around the Red Force, seakings who had been swimming deep under the waves suddenly surface belly-up, unconscious or dead and foaming at the mouth, too weak to withstand Shanks' rage.</span>
</p><p>On the ships that had been trying to board the Red Force (and <em>failing</em> pathetically), the battle <em>ends.</em> None of Big Mom's children strong enough to whitstand the sheer <em>rage</em> of an Emperor, not one of them, and his nakama are quick to hurry back to the ship, to unfurl the sails even as they wait for directions.</p><p>
  <span>At the helm, Benn grits his teeth and holds the heading, barks orders at the rest of the crew, does everything he can to win them precious minutes as they head to what will no doubt be their most important battle. He doesn't know the details, not yet, but he knows that whatever it is that has his captain in such a state concerns Captain Buggy, and that's enough for him to do everything he can to get them there as fast as he can. He knows just how much the other man means to his captain, has seen what believing him dead had done to Shanks, and he refuses to see his captain like that ever again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Never again.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>"When, Rockstar?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know yet, Okashira, but it will be announced soon. I wouldn't give it more than a week though, not if they want to avoid Whitebeard storming Impel Down. As for the location - Marineford. It will have to be MArineford, if they want to have as many soldiers as possible present to make sure the executions go as planned."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's a trap for Whitebeard then, on top of a chance for them to get rid of Gol D Roger's legacy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks' voice is calm, too calm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I believe so, Captain." A pause. "I'll do my best to try and get them out before they get transferred, but Impel Down is a maze and a prison in one, and the security is </span>
  <em>
    <span>tight.</span>
  </em>
  <span> From Level 1 I could have done it without trouble, but any level beneath level 3? Not by myself, Okashira."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rockstar sounds angry at himself as he says that, and Shanks wants to reassure him, to comfort him, but he can't, not when his brain is taken over by sheer panic at the thought of Buggy on an execution platform, <strike>of his head hitting the ground just like Captain's</strike>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Benn, how far-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Eight days at normal speeds, six and half to seven if we put everything in and the winds are in our favour," his first mate responds before he can finish even as he barks as Lucky to unfurl the sail further. "If you can get us a Seaking to drag us faster under the Red Line, six and a half to six days."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Make that <em>five,"</em>  Speed snarls, the hooded Klabauterman appearing next to Shanks, fangs bared as her fists clench around a hammer. "It's <em>Blue.</em> Force can do it if you get us a Seaking, Red, I'll make <em>sure of it."</em></span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do what you have to to make it in time," Shanks tells them. "Rockstar, if there's anything you can do </span>
  <em>
    <span>while keeping yourself alive</span>
  </em>
  <span>, do it. If you can't break them out of the prison, try and smuggle yourself on a ship to Marineford and meet us there." He gulps. "If there's anything you can do-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I will, Okashira," Rockstar tells him, his voice unusually serious. "I will do what I can, and try and see who else I can break out that might be useful." He pauses. "Okashira, if they announce the execution publically, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>they will,</span>
  </em>
  <span> you know that others are going to see this. Whitebeard is a given, of course, but the Blackjacks and the Strawhats-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck. Fuck, Shanks hadn't even thought that far yet, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck, </span>
  </em>
  <span>this is why he needs Buggy and Rockstar and Benn, to remind him of things like that and stop him from rushing headfirst-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll call Newgate and Yadomaru myself," he tells his spymaster, while cursing the fact that he had no number for the Thousand Sunny. "The Strawhats were last seen at Sabaody, I will call Shakky and see if she's heard anything."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Calling Shakky also runs the risk of Rayleigh picking up, but it's a risk Shanks is willing to take this one time, with Buggy's life on the line. Fuck, but the last thing he wants is to involve the Rogers, but if he has to to save Buggy, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>will.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck, maybe he’ll try Kokoro and Iceburg first - Luffy’s new ship is definitely a Water 7 special, and one of Cutty Flam’s - no, it’s Franky now, Shanks needs to remember that, Franky who joined Luffy’s crew despite refusing Oden’s offer back then - at that. Maybe they’ll have a way of getting in contact with it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah, he’ll definitely try them first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good," Rockstar says, the relief clear in his voice. "And Okashira, when you get the Blackjacks- tell them that Crocodile is apparently locked up down here as well. I know they've been looking for him ever since Luffy kicked his ass."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks grimaces, because fuck. Of course Crocodile would have landed himself in Impel Down after that stunt in Alabasta, targeting one of the ruling families was too big a crime even for a warlord.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I will tell them. Stay alive, Rockstar", he orders. "May Davy Jones watch over you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And may the Seas carry you swiftly," Rockstar tells him in return, before hanging up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks hangs up, takes a breath, then another and another and another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turns towards Benn. "I will be in the communication cabin," he tells his first mate, and then he's inside the ship and inside the cabin and grabbing for one of the secure Denden and composing the number of the Stenographer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Stenographer, what can I do for you?" Comes the sarcastic voice of Ball-buster Kuukaku.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I need to talk to the Queen of Clubs."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There has to be something in his voice that gets her moving, because there is none of Kuukaku's usual unhelpfulness as the denden is immediately handed to Yadomaru, her face superimposing itself on the snail in seconds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Akagami."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Portgas D. Ace and Boke no Buggy have been brought to the lowest levels of Impel Down and are to be executed for being Gol D Roger's legacies," He tells her bluntly, not bothering to sugarcoat anything. "Crocodile is rumoured to be held in those same levels."</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>There's one moment where the line is completely, utterly silent as Yadomaru digests what he just said. Then the air is turning blue as she breaks into swears, and there's the distinct sound of glass shattering on the other side of the line.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck. When and where, Akagami?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The date hasn't been announced yet, but soon - they won't risk giving Whitebeard a chance to storm the prison. As for the location, Marineford is their stronghold, and where they can gather the most troops at a moment's notice. That's where they'll hold the executions. I don't think Crocodile is going to be on the scaffold with the others, not if they haven't done so before now when the information suggests he's been there since the Alabasta fiasco, but I wouldn't put it past them either."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More swears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck. The Black Maria is under repair - we had a really bad storm last week, threw her against the cliffs. Nothing unrepairable, but it's going to take </span>
  <em>
    <span>time. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I don't think we'll be able to break them out of Impel Down, Akagami, not in such little time and with the resources we have." Yadomaru sounds <em>pissed,</em> genuinely angry at not being able to storm Impel Down right this moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks breathes in. Breathes out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But make no mistake, Akagami no Shanks,” Yadomaru’s voice is hard like steel. “We </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> coming. We’re working on the repairs as we speak and we will be riding the waves as soon as the Black Maria is seaworthy, and we will </span>
  <em>
    <span>swim</span>
  </em>
  <span> if necessary, but we will not let that boy get executed. Nor will we let Boke no Buggy suffer the same fate. Sins of the father, blood or not, should not be taken out on the children.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>A pause.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You told us of our Captain’s fate even when you weren’t sure it was truly her, even when you had to go out of your way to do so, Akagami no Shanks. Even had Portgas D. Ace not been involved, we would have come to the aid of Boke no Buggy had you called. We owe you more than we will ever be able to repay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I only did what was right, what any Child of Davy Jones worthy of the name would have done,” Shanks counters, though the relief that courses through his veins is heady.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And our honour as Children of Davy Jones would have us do nothing less,” Yadomaru states. Then, after another pause. “Roger’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>legacies,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Akagami? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Both </span>
  </em>
  <span>of them? You’re certain?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shanks closes his eyes, briefly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have a man on the inside who heard Akainu’s exact words as he dragged Firefist in and recognised Buggy and decided to have two executions for the price of one. Firefist denies the connection and called Whitebeard his only father, which all but confirmed it. Both of them, Queen of Clubs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fuck,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Yadomaru said, quietly, but with feelings. “Fuck. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That gets a semi-hysterical chuckle out of Shanks. “You think I know?” He shoots back. “I only found out </span>
  <em>
    <span>ten minutes ago,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Yadomaru!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought Captain had </span>
  <em>
    <span>standards!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Yadomaru protests, and then they’re both laughing and this time there’s no </span>
  <em>
    <span>semi</span>
  </em>
  <span> about it, it’s fully hysterical on both of their parts.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>It takes them a couple of minutes, but they do manage to calm down, the gravity of the situation reasserting itself, the moment of hysterical levity gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hoist the colours, Akagami,” Yadomaru’s voice is calm, settled. “Hoist the colours, send out the call, and our flag will fly beside yours. On my word as a Child of Davy Jones and the Seas he sails on."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked it :D</p><p>Let me know what you thought of it!</p><p>Next up (whenever I manage to write it): Some more denden calls. Plotting. An explanation on traditions. Some honest talks. More Feels.</p><p>Special credit to mydetheturk for the idea that Crocodile was once an apprentice on Rouge's crew! They graciously allowed me to play with that idea (and I thanked them for it by swinging the angst bat straight at them xD)</p><p><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1778161"> Check their "Piracy is the Secondary Objective" series! </a> </p><p>And special thanks to the rest of the Discord people: you are enablers and I adore you for it</p><p>  <a href="https://discord.gg/xreVUA2">I have a Discord now!</a></p><p>Feel free to join it if you want to yell at me for giving you feels about Buggy the Clown, throw headcanons around, discuss latest chapters, give me new plotbunnies (you know who you are), share your own writing or favourite fics/art, or just want a place to virtually hang out at during these trying times: you're all welcome aboard !</p><p>ALSO! Thanks to the amazing Barid, <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/WatashitachiwaRogerkaizokudesuwestillstandproud"> the main fic now has a TV Tropes Page</a>! Please go and check it out, and feel free to add to it!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you liked it :D</p>
<p>Let me know what you thought of it!</p>
<p>Next up (whenever I manage to write it): Ace and Buggy have a talk. Some people get some very bad news. Some sea kings are about to regret their territory choices.</p>
<p>And special thanks to the rest of the Discord people: you are enablers and I adore you for it</p>
<p>  <a href="https://discord.gg/xreVUA2">I have a Discord now!</a></p>
<p>Feel free to join it if you want to yell at me for giving you feels about Buggy the Clown, throw headcanons around, discuss latest chapters, give me new plotbunnies (you know who you are), share your own writing or favourite fics/art, or just want a place to virtually hang out at during these trying times: you're all welcome aboard !</p>
<p>ALSO! Thanks to the amazing Barid, <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/WatashitachiwaRogerkaizokudesuwestillstandproud"> the main fic now has a TV Tropes Page</a>! Please go and check it out, and feel free to add to it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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